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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20091124_PC_mtg_min 1 PLANNING COMMISSION CITY MANAGER James P. Boyle, Chair Diane Schleicher Randi Bryan Jay Burke PLANNING AND ZONING MANAGER George Dausey Jonathan H. Lynn Lisa McKenzie Anne Miller CITY ATTORNEY Whitley Reynolds, Vice Chair Edward M. Hughes MINUTES Planning Commission Meeting November 24, 2009 – 7:00 p.m. Chair James Boyle called the November 24, 2009, Planning Commission meeting to order. Other Commissioners present were: Randi Bryan, George Dausey, Lisa McKenzie, Anne Miller, and Whitley Reynolds. Absent was Jay Burke. This meeting was scheduled when there was not a quorum at the November 17, 2009, Planning Commission meeting. Chair James Boyle asked for a motion on the Minutes of the October 20, 2009, meeting. Whitley Reynolds motioned to approve. Anne Miller seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Chair James Boyle asked if there were any Disclosures. Whitley Reynolds said that he would step out for items 1 and 3. Chair James Boyle opened a Public Hearing for a Zoning Variance at 1-B Eleventh Place (also known as 1101-B Strand), PIN 4-0007-01-018, Zone R-2. Whitley Reynolds recused. The petitioner was Pioneer Construction for Graham Cooper. The request was for a side setback variance for stairs. Jonathan Lynn said that the Character Area was Beachfront Neighborhood. He said that the applicant was seeking to have an additional means of egress; the house had only one other means of egress. Lynn explained that the stairs would result in a 4-foot setback. Boyle confirmed that it was a side setback that would be affected by the proposal. Graham Cooper of Pioneer Construction explained that the original plan was to place the stairs off the front of the deck but the DNR determined it would be too near a sand dune. He then discussed the redesign being considered by the Commissioners. Randi Bryan asked if a spiral staircase had been considered. Cooper said no because the owner wanted a comfortable stairwell. Steve Schneider, owner of the property, spoke of an existing stairwell and an elevator servicing the home. He talked about a variance that had been granted when the home was built for a slab for backing of a car. He explained that he and his wife wanted a stairway that would be an ease to go up and down and that a spiral stairway would have taken part of the deck. George Dausey asked when the variance on the slab was allowed. Schneider said when the house was built about thirteen years ago. Boyle asked the measurements of the slab. It was determined that the slab was about 8-feet by 12-feet and the stairs would not go outside the slab. Lisa McKenzie clarified that Schneider owned the “B” side of the property. She questioned if the owner of “A” was worried about the stairway situation. Schneider said that the owner would not see it and the owner was okay with it. McKenzie asked if that owner was worried about having another egress. Schneider said that he did not know. McKenzie asked Schneider if his was a rental property. Schneider said that his was not and neither was the other side. McKenzie questioned if construction of a proposed sidewalk would disturb the dunes. Cooper said that the DNR wanted the stairwell built under the deck but that would have taken out a large portion of the deck. Cooper, Schneider and McKenzie discussed the proposal. Boyle asked Lynn about the sidewalk. Lynn explained that at permitting the materials, drainage, and location would be reviewed. McKenzie and Schneider discussed the proposed relocation of an 2 outdoor shower. After McKenzie asked about the slab, Schneider explained that it was for maneuvering out of the garage. Boyle called for public input. There was none. Boyle closed the Public Hearing and asked for a motion. Anne Miller moved to approve. Dausey seconded. Dausey and Miller voted in favor of the motion to approve. Bryan and McKenzie voted against the motion. Reynolds had recused. Boyle broke the tie by voting in favor of the motion. The motion to approve passed with a 3-2 vote. City Council would hear the request on December 10, 2009. Chair James Boyle opened a Public Hearing for Site Plan at 8 Seventeenth Street, PIN 4-0008-06-035, Zone C-1. The petitioner was Haywood Frye. The request was for a single-family dwelling. Jonathan Lynn explained that all uses in a C-1 must have Site Plan approval. He said that the Character Area was 17th Street Neighborhood. Mark Boswell, engineer of record, said that the drainage plan had been approved by the City’s review engineer. At Boyle’s request, Lynn explained that a lot that went from Seventeenth Street to Silver Avenue had been subdivided. Boswell said that everything around the lot was residential. Boyle asked for public input. There being none, Boyle closed the Public Hearing. Lisa McKenzie motioned to approve. Anne Miller seconded. The vote was unanimous. The motion to approve passed with a 5-0 vote. The petition would be heard by City Council on December 10, 2009. Chair James Boyle opened a Public Hearing for a Zoning Variance at 1705 Chatham Avenue, PIN 4- 0010-05-002, Zone R-2. Whitley Reynolds recused. The petitioner was Tybee Ventures, LLC. The request was a nonconforming structure variance for an addition to a single-family dwelling. Jonathan Lynn explained that the proposal would add a bedroom and that it would not exceed the 50% threshold so was eligible for a variance. He said that there would be no further encroachment on the setbacks. Lynn said that the Character Area was Back River Neighborhood. Charlie Angell, The House Doctor, said that the addition would be a bedroom and a bathroom. The plan was reviewed. Lisa McKenzie asked about the existing encroachment. It was determined to be on the left side of the plan and not in the area of the proposed addition. McKenzie asked the estimated cost of construction and the value of the structure. Angell said that the estimated construction cost was $70,000 and the value of the structure as appraised by Johnnie Ganem was $180,570. There was no response to Boyle’s request for public input. McKenzie verified with Lynn that the addition would not encroach into any setback. Boyle closed the Public Hearing and called for a motion. Anne Miller motioned to approve. George Dausey seconded the motion. Voting in favor were Bryan, Dausey, McKenzie, and Miller. Reynolds had recused. The motion to approve passed with a 4-0 vote. The request would be heard by City Council on December 10, 2009. Chair James Boyle opened a Public Hearing for a Text Amendment to Land Development Code Article 6, Sign Regulations. The petitioner was the City of Tybee Island. Jonathan Lynn said that examples from around the state and region were utilized to update the City’s ordinance to make it friendlier toward businesses and to have more clarity. He said that it was not drastically different. He said that input was gathered from the business community, Staff had reviewed it, and the comments received had been incorporated into the document. Anne Miller said that they had not had enough time to look at it and Lynn had just handed them a revised version. She said that they had a work shop and it was taken over by P aul [Wolff] and another lady and they discussed what they wanted mostly, and that was a failed try. She said she was not prepared to make any sort of motion. Lisa McKenzie said that she would like to hear the public input because she knew that there were some issues but she did not know exactly what they were. Referring to the revised version, Lynn explained that the changes that were made since the Commissioners received their packets were highlighted in yellow. Boyle referred to Section 6-090(C) and discussed with Lynn changing a sentence to end at the word “Article” which would grandfather existing signage. George Dausey asked if the incoming City Council would review it. Lynn explained that the City Attorney recommended holding the Text Amendments so that the existing Council would not hear it in December for First Reading and then the incoming Council hear it in January for Second Reading. Boyle 3 called for public input. Jimmy Kelleher, owner of Seaside Sweets on Tybrisa Street, said that he was part of an organization that was established to try to work with the City on issues such as this called the Tybee Island Business Alliance [TIBA]. He said that it was a little surprising that this came up and was going to be sort of shoved through and they never were asked their input. He asked Lynn what businesses gave input. Lynn said that some of the vacation rental places, Keith Gay, and the Historical Society had reviewed it. He said this was the third public meeting that it had been in front of the Planning Commission. Kelleher said that they knew that and they were remiss in not having attended and they are running their businesses so they do not have time to come to the meetings. He said that he caught it on TV. Kelleher described storefronts, marketing, signage, banners, menu boards, temporary signs, and window signs. He said that it was a pretty restrictive sign ordinance and that it appeared to be more of an issue of implementing the old sign ordinance. He said that his and TIBA’s questions were why did the y need it, who wrote it, what was the essence behind it, and what was the need that they saw. Kelleher spoke further about the document referring to visual blight, the Master Plan, closed businesses, and the short period of time the businesses have to scream what they are doing to the public. He said they want to have input if something this drastic is going to affect their livelihoods. Kelleher said he spoke to two current City Council members and they did not know the City was doing a sign ordinance. He s aid that all he was asking was that they sit back, take a good hard look at it, and see if it was something that was beneficial to everybody: residents, tourists, business, and the like. Keith Gay said that he understood the intent and that part of it was about giving more specificity to the kind of signage and cleaning it up, and there was no one on the island that would not concur with that, but one of the challenges with that effort was that sometimes in the interest of cleaning it up we get in a rush and do not take into consideration a number of the other elements. Gay agreed with the change to grandfather existing signage. He spoke of the funkiness of Tybee and the upsides of that. Gay clarified with Lynn that there would be two additional Public Hearings with City Council after Planning Commission and that it would be easiest to make amendments now. Gay spoke in favor of allowing canopy signage. He asked if flashing signs were animated signs. He spoke about technology that allowed billboards to change messages not being an option under the proposed ordinance and there not being a provision for sandwich boards. Gay concluded by suggesting that the restriction of allowing one small sign on each vacant lot that was for sale be changed to allow one large sign for all the lots. He said that might also be applied to political signs. Kelleher explained that the current ordinance allowed lighting signage with floodlights but the proposed ordinance required internal illumination. He spoke against that change. Susan Kelleher, part owner of Seaside Sisters, described properties and signs along Highway 80. She said that to get them homogenized into something that they probably do not want, nor does anybody else want, was maybe not what we wanted to do. She suggested that the Commissioners drive at night and at day and note what they were voting on and what they want to go and what they do not want to go. She said that not necessarily what you think is good does the other person think is good; we all have differences of opinion. She said that what they have to rule on was whether it was legal or not. Referring to the proposed ordinance, Kelleher said that she could not read it and figure out what it was trying to tell her that she could and could not do. She said that maybe the whole thing needed to be scraped all together and they start out with something really plain and easy to read. She said that grandfathering signs in was great. She said that some signs have been here forever. She asked if they wanted to homogenize something what was the point of having a sign ordinance with all these restrictions when some of the big, giant, old signs would still be there anyway. She said that she would like to find some middle ground and look at what the businesses have and need and don’t need. Gay said that they needed to consider grandfathering the lighting for some period of time. Lynn said that the lighting would apply to new signs and did not apply to buildings. Lighting was discussed. Jim Kelleher said that a simple definition of what constitutes a sign would be beneficial. He and Lynn discussed. The Planning Commissioners and Lynn discussed the Text Amendment and options for handling it. Gay requested another opportunity for businesses to provide input. Anne Miller encouraged Gay to inform other business organizations. After further discussion, 4 Boyle closed the Public Hearing. It was recommended that an informal open meeting to solicit input be held. Boyle called for a motion. Miller motioned to table the Text Amendment. McKenzie seconded. The vote was unanimous. The motion to table passed with a 5-0 vote. Chair James Boyle opened a Public Hearing for a Text Amendment to Land Development Code Article 5, Procedures for Administration and Enforcement. The petitioner was the City of Tybee Island. Jonathan Lynn listed the various regulations included in the document. George Dausey asked if the City Attorney had looked at it. Lynn said yes. Randi Bryan asked about the red text in the proposed ordinance. Lynn said that the red text was all of the proposed changes. Bryan asked about the word “grubbing.” It was determined to be a land disturbing activity with a bush hog to rake roots out of the ground. Lynn explained that if the document was approved some overhaul to the definitions section of the Land Development Code would need to be done. Regarding a section about dock permits, Bryan asked about a letter from the City being required before a person went to the DNR. Lynn said that was a requirement of the DNR and it was the current process. The group discussed options for handling the Text Amendment. Boyle closed the Public Hearing. Whitley Reynolds moved for approval. George Dausey seconded the motion. Voting in favor were Dausey and Reynolds. Voting in opposition were Bryan, McKenzi e and Miller. The motion to approve failed. Boyle asked if there was another motion. McKenzie motioned to table until the Commissioners had a work shop to discuss the ordinance. Miller seconded. Options for the time of the work shop were discussed. Voting in favor of the motion were Bryan, McKenzie and Miller. Voting against the motion were Dausey and Reynolds. The motion to table and have a work shop passed with a 3-2 vote. Jonathan Lynn announced that the December 15, 2009, Planning Commission meeting would be held at the Guard House due to renovation of the City Hall Auditorium. He explained that the meeting would be recorded but not air live on TV. Chair James Boyle closed the meeting.